I am fully aware that this article might offend some people. However, we should know that the truth almost always offends our flesh. Letting His light shine into our very heart is NEVER comfortable. It is painful!

So, only if you want to let the great heart surgeon have more than a casual glance into the dark cellar of your unconscious mind any time soon, you should go on reading. If not, it would be better to cling to the dangerous delusion of believing Jesus came to make you a better human being. In fact, He came to save sinners from perishing in their (unconscious) sinfulness by giving them the light to see their lostness and hopelessness without Him.

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (Jn 8:12 ESV)

For the avoidance of doubt, I define darkness here as our unconscious sinfulness of the heart which defines us as sinners in God’s sight and light as knowing and living in the truth, that is, seeing our complete dependency on God’s power and provision to do ANYTHING which is really good in His view. Thus, being a saint means doing EXCLUSIVELY these works which God gives us to do according to HIS plan.

Q: “What if our doing for God were worthless in His sight?”

Martin Luther put it this way,

IV. Now every one can note and tell for himself when he does what is good or what is not good; for if he finds his heart confident that it pleases God, the work is good, even if it were so small a thing as picking up a straw. If confidence is absent, or if he doubts, the work is not good, although it should raise all the dead and the man should give himself to be burned. This is the teaching of St. Paul, Romans xiv:‘Whatsoever is not done of or in faith is sin.’ Faith, as the chief work, and no other work, has given us the name of ‘believers on Christ.’ For all other works a heathen, a Jew, a Turk, a sinner, may also do; but to trust firmly that he pleases God, is possible only for a Christian who is enlightened and strengthened by grace.

(Martin Luther, A treatise on Good Works, 1520)

Let’s get real here…
If we find ourselves doing something – WHATEVER – which we do not out of faith, not fully convinced of God’s guidance to do it, not filled with the joy to please Him who gave us that particular work to do – we are still faithless.

“Ouch!!!”

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Hebr 11:1 ESV)

If we find ourselves faithless, then, it won’t help us to pray for faith, neither to ask others to do it, nor to ask God to change our current heart condition as we see fit. He won’t do it, for sure, because God wants us to know that we have NO faith to do anything good on our own. And He wants to give us a new heart, not only some correction as for our “not-so-bad” behavior.

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. (Jn 15:5-8 ESV).

Can we hear His voice here? What does it mean to “bear much fruit”? Running around and saving the whole world by preaching the gospel to the “lost” (in our sight), feeding the poor, or pouring our energy into an impressive Christian ministry? None of these activities will be of any value if our doing is NOT accompanied by the fruit of the Spirit which consists of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, [and] self-control (Gal 5:22-23 ESV).

Ouch again?

Not necessarily. Realizing the truth about our own hearts will eventually set us free to really experience God’s rest. Without His rest, we cannot please Him, we cannot please those whom we are trying to help, neither will we be pleased nor satisfied by our own doing – ever.

In closing, one might draw the conclusion that God’s love, again and again, helps us to be set free. Free from self-deceit, free from “burning out”, free to do what we REALLY want to do since everything we do half-heartedly robs us of the power to do good works as God sees fit.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Eph 2:8-10 ESV)

May God help us to get real about our faithlessness and our futile works apart from Him so that we can be set free to live a genuine godly life.

Let’s go, be relaxed, and pick up a straw – but with faith! 😉

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20 thoughts on “Let’s get real, friends!”

I was on the phone with a brother in eastern Montana, USA, a while back and the Lord had me key-in on one statement he had made, “Most Christians don’t know what the New Covenant REALLY IS!” I immediately asked myself, “Just WHAT IS the New Covenant anyway?” I know that I had gone to many churches and sat through years in time of accumulated sermons and Sunday school classes, but had I ever heard about the nature of the New Covenant and just what makes it NEW???
So, I admitted to my friend and brother in Montana that I did not know what the New Covenant was! I new that what we see, calling itself “the church” was NOT it for sure, for it in its present day form is not found in the Bible! I wanted to KNOW!

He started me on my search by referring me to a little known (at least in Christendom) passage in one of the prophet’s books in the Old Testament which was quoted again in the Book of Hebrews (a book that is ALL about the difference between the New and Old Covenants, by the way)…

“For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault with them, he says, ‘Behold, the days come, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not,’ says the Lord. ‘For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,’ says the Lord; ‘I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord’: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.’ In that he says, A NEW COVENANT, he has made the first OLD. NOW THAT WHICH DECAYS AND GROWS OLD IS READY TO VANISH AWAY.” (Hebrews 8:7-13 KJ2000- emphasis added)

Ezekiel saw the nature of this NEW thing that God put in place 2000 years ago and said, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my judgments, and do them.” (Ezekiel 36:26-27 KJ2000)

The Old Covenant was all hinged on man doing what pleased God, but NOT the New! In this NEW Covenant it is all about what GOD is doing IN US for it is “NOT by might nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord.”

HE takes out of us our stone cold hearts!
HE gives us a NEW heart!
HE writes His law (His will) upon our hearts
HE puts His Spirit in us!
HE removes our sins from us as far as the east is from the west!
HE will be the only Teacher we will need (see also 1 John 2:26-27)!

You see, it is NOT about us any longer (not a single “Thou shalt…” or “Thou shalt not…” to be found here), but it is ALL about HIM and what He is doing in our lives. Jesus said, “Apart from ME you can do NOTHING!” What part of “NOTHING” don’t we understand???

So, what is our part in this NEW and lasting Covenant that Jesus inaugurated with His own death and resurrection and the infilling of His Spirit that took place on the Day of Pentecost 2000 years ago? Our part is to only rest by faith IN HIM! In Hebrews we ALSO read,

“So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.” (Hebrews 4:9-11 ESV)

Did you get it? There is a rest in the here and now for those who walk by faith where we cease from all our striving, fretting and doubts, but rather we rest confidently in the finished work of Jesus Christ and enjoy HIS presence as we abide TOTALLY IN HIM and no longer in or of ourselves. This IS what grace really is, my friends. You see, once we are resting iN Christ; grace, peace, rest, obedience to God, abiding IN the Vine, following the voice of THE Shepherd… ALL these things become one and the same and part of what it means to be true members of this NEW and LASTING covenant. If you are NOT there, then pray that God kills that old sinful, striving religious nature in you that finds HIS GRACE to be such an insult to that Old Adam that still has possession of your heart.

Pray, “Father, whatever it takes! Do what you must to get me get your new heart within me which really believes that you love me and have made all provision for me IN your Son. Father, kill this old striving person that I have been and put the faith of your Son in me. Amen”

Then hang on, for NOTHING is going to be the same once He sets out to make you HIS NEW CREATION!

Thanks so much for another God-inspired exposition. In fact, you wrote a great blog post on this very topic “The Old Covenant Versus The New Covenant” before. Actually, it was the first article I read from you. I linked it below.

In our assessment of ourselves as to whether we are indeed walking in the faith, abiding in the Lord and truly resting in him, we MUST consider and take into account the very different landscape, very different circumstances we find ourselves in, as compared to the NT Christians. There are a great many professing believers today, who do believe that they are walking by faith, they do see their works as righteous, they do have confidence in their mind that God approves of their works – they do have “faith” that they are abiding in the Lord. Yet a very close examination of their works and a very close examination of their judgements, their doctrine – their way – will show that they indeed are not in the faith, despite all their assurance and confidence that they feel inside. Remember it was the Ecclesia in Laidocea, the last mentioned in Revelations, they were deluded into believing that they were spiritually rich by their physical wealth, I do believe that this is the case with many professing Christians today, yes even those who seem to be the more spiritual among us.

The New Testament Christians had a sure foundation that was laid by the Apostles, they had received that anointing which was truth and NO lie 1Jn. 2:27. Paul said “You have not many fathers, I have laid the foundation and another builds upon it”. Any other foundation other than the Jesus of Paul, is sinking sand – as the scriptures say “If the foundations be broken, what shall the righteous do?”

Now don’t misunderstand me, I am not saying it’s hopeless here, you know in Lamentations 3 it says “he has made my way crooked” – you know if the Lord makes our way crooked, is there anything you or I can do about it – can we resist the work of the Lord? Of course not!

I believe there is a secret place, even at this time of great confusion and delusion, there is a secret place and those who find this secret place in the Lord. They have found a great treasure, even the fear of the Lord – it is a great treasure – This is the place of the Lord where he will make our ways straight.

Thank you for reading and commenting. I agree with you – we can find “this secret place in the Lord” – nowhere else. And indeed, the fear of the Lord is great treasure since by nature, we as humans do not know such a fear; instead, we fear death. But sharing Christ’s resurrection life makes us partakers of eternal life in heaven right now. There is nothing to be feared than God alone.

“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Mt 10:28 ESV)

Well as of lately I have been feeling guilty for a lot of things. I keep needing to remind my self not everything is a sin but why is there a voice in my head that tells me not to eat or not to drink or not to sleep or to not do this and not do that. I have no idea where that voice is coming from. It did seem to start when I was attempting to eat healthier for the lord. At first it was just a voice that said to stay away from cookies, candy, sweets and pop.

I am acquainted with these kind of voices since they tormented me, too, for a very long time. But the more I got familiar with God’s tender and loving voice, the more I saw these cold and harsh commands came from Satan. 😦

A bit more info for you as the last reply my not have covered what needs to be covered. Yes it seems to have started after I was trying to eat healthier but it also started after trying to live by faith so the voice is also suggesting I am not eating in faith, drinking in faith or sleeping in faith. Something like that.

That is NOT God’s voice, Fred. Healthier food is good, but God would never force you to eat this and that, for it is written,

Do Not Pass Judgment on One Another

1 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.
2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables.
3 Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.
(Rom 14:1-3 ESV)

“For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Rom 14:17 ESV)

Please note…. IN the Holy Spirit, not outside of Him. It is not our doing since we need God to put us there. And sometimes a lot of patience is needed until we experience these things for the first time. But then this Scripture comes to life.

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FEAR NOT…

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him."
(John 3:16-17 ESV)

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